It is known that in sports and competition bicycles the anchorage of the cyclist's shoe to the pedal must be particularly steady and precise and that, for this purpose, pedals have since long been provided with toe clips for housing the front part of the cyclist's shoe.
More recently, devices have been introduced for anchoring the sole of the cyclist's shoe to the pedal by means of a still plate fixed to the sole itself.
In both cases, however, when the pedal is free--i.e. not engaged by the cyclist's shoe--it tends to take up a strongly inclined position, owing to the weight of the toe clip or of the anchorage means, which make it totally unbalanced on one side. This causes quite a lot of inconveniences to cyclists who, in order to introduce their feet properly into the means for anchoring the shoes to the pedals--when getting on the bicycle or starting off--have to first cause a rotation of the pedals until they have taken up a suitable position, which is usually almost horizontal. This operation--which is relatively simple when having a certain experience, and if one has plenty of time and the required calm--can become very tiresome when it has to be carried out hastily and/or in particular psychological or emotional conditions, as it happens at the start of a competition and/or along its laps, and it can cause even considerable losses of time, which can prejudice the cyclist's performance in the competition and even determine more serious damages, like falls.